Wage-hike activists protest Monday at LIRR stations
More than a dozen activists supporting a minimum wage hike in New York gathered at several Long Island Rail Road stations Monday, aiming to disrupt commutes and send a message to local Republican lawmakers.
The demonstrators, led by Bend the Arc: A Jewish Partnership for Justice, rallied at the LIRR’s Garden City, Mineola and Hicksville stations during the morning rush — chanting “We believe that we can win!” and holding signs with messages including “All workers deserve a living wage.”
“We’re here to send a strong message to the senators here on Long Island that Long Island needs $15, New York needs $15,” said Rachel Ackoff, senior national organizer at Bend the Arc: A Jewish Partnership for Justice, which has launched a “#JewsFor15” social media campaign. “People of faith care. It’s not just an economic crisis. It’s a moral crisis.”
Protesters urged commuters to contact their elected state senators, including Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan (R-East Northport) and Labor Committee members Kemp Hannon (R-Garden City), Jack Martins (R-Mineola) and Carl Marcellino (R-Oyster Bay), and ask them to support a proposal by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour from the current $9.
Representatives for Flanagan, Hannon, Martins and Marcellino did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Opponents of the plan have said increased labor costs could hurt small businesses. But home health worker Shirley Newcome, who rallied at Hicksville, said the goal of the movement is to “help raise people out of poverty.”
“What we’re asking for is a pay raise that reflects the hard work that we do,” Newcome said. “We treat our clients like family. Now let us make enough money to feed our families.”
Monday afternoon, about a dozen advocates stood by platforms at the Huntington LIRR station chanting for the hike.
Luis Valenzuela, a board member of the Long Island Progressive Coalition, said a higher wage “would increase economic activity on Long Island, because the people who would benefit would use the money” to cover basic needs.
Some commuters respectfully engaged with the demonstrators, while others were clearly annoyed. One rushed Garden City LIRR rider used obscenities while telling an approaching protester to leave him alone. “I want to go to work,” he said.
Another commuter, after maneuvering through demonstrators to catch his train, remarked “stupid kids,” just before the train’s doors closed.
In Mineola, Mary Elizabeth Bryan, 65, of Brooklyn cheered the protesters while waiting for a train into Manhattan, where she works as a social worker.
“I grew up working class, and I remember my parents struggling,” she said. “I’m proud to see young people standing together to do the right thing.”
Howard Jones, 69, of West Hempstead wasn’t as sympathetic. “People should work for ten dollars an hour and just work their way up like I did,” Jones said before boarding the train.
LIRR spokesman Salvatore Arena said there were no reported incidents at the morning rallies and no disruptions of the railroad’s operations.
The national “Fight for 15” movement, begun by fast food workers, got a boost over the weekend when the California State Legislature reached a tentative deal to raise its $10 minimum wage to $15 by 2021. New York’s Legislature could approve a similar wage hike as part of a state budget as early as this week.
With Victor Ramos
Alfonso Castillo has been reporting for Newsday since 1999 and covering the transportation beat since 2008. He grew up in the Bronx and Queens and now lives in Valley Stream with his wife and two sons.
Women hoping to become deacons ... Out East: Southold Fish Market ... Get the latest news and more great videos at NewsdayTV
Women hoping to become deacons ... Out East: Southold Fish Market ... Get the latest news and more great videos at NewsdayTV
